FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (April 18, 2006)
CONTACT: Montye Conlan
386.441.4933
Email: montyesue@695online.com / Web site: www.citizenshealthcare.gov
DELTONA PARTICIPATES IN NATIONWIDE DISCUSSION ON HEALTH CARE
Citizens' recommendations to be considered by Congress, White House
Washington, D.C. –The Deltona area will participate in a dialogue on health care in America presented by the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group. The community meeting will be held on Saturday, May 6th, 2006, from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in the Social Center at Our Lady of the Lakes Church. 1310 Maximillian Street in Deltona, Florida. The meeting is free and open to the public, but registration is requested. Registration is available at www.citizenshealthcare.gov.
"As the reader of any newspaper in the state will know, health care costs and accessibility are major issues in Florida. These problems are particularly striking for the Hispanic community in Central Florida. I invite Latinos now to join us in this unique meeting held in Spanish”, stated Florida resident and Working Group Member Montye Conlan. “Let's bring all voices of the diverse Hispanic community in Central Florida together to send a clear message to Congress that we need an affordable and accessible health care system that works for all Americans."
The community meeting will feature an audio-visual presentation about the current problems in the health care system. This will be followed by more focused discussions in small groups. Participants will share their ideas about how to improve the health care system and then answer the Health Care Poll. This meeting, the fifth and most unusual to be held in the state, involves a partnership between the Working Group, the Florida Community Health Action Information Network (CHAIN) and a local multiple sclerosis support group, the MS-keteers, facilitated by Deltona resident Nayda Cuevas. Translation will be provided by CHAIN state organizer Andrew Leone.
Community members, especially those unable to come to the meeting are urged to take advantage of several important online features designed to overcome physical and practical barriers to citizen participation. The Public Comment Center, Citizens’ Blogs, and Discussion Forums, are found at www.citizenshealthcare.gov. They are all ways to enable a more inclusive public comment and debate so that citizens can share their opinions with one another and make their views known to the Working Group in order to strengthen the recommendations provided to the President and Congress.
The Working Group, a nonpartisan group authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, is charged with listening to the views of the American people and developing recommendations for the President and Congress to provide U.S. citizens with “Health Care that Works for All Americans.” The Health Report to the American People was released in October and serves as a basis to engage the American people in a dialogue on health care access, cost and quality issues. The Working Group consists of 15 members -- 14 citizens of diverse backgrounds from across the country, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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